A visitor lands on your Storepoint locator and, before typing anything, sees a map centered on their area with the closest locations listed beside it. From there they search, narrow, and pick.
This page follows that journey in order. Every step is something you control, and each section links to the page that configures it. Read it start to finish to see how the pieces connect, then go deep wherever you need to.
On This Page
- How does the locator know where a visitor is?
- What can visitors search by?
- How do visitors narrow down results?
- Why do results appear in this order?
- Can visitors browse the map instead of searching?
- What happens when nothing is nearby?
- How the pieces work together
- Which setup fits your directory
How does the locator know where a visitor is?
An IP estimate places the visitor at city level the instant the page loads, and the map opens already centered there with nearby locations sorted by distance. If you've turned on the GPS prompt, their browser asks permission, and allowing it moves the map to street-level precision.
A visitor who dismisses that prompt keeps the city-level view. A visitor who arrives with both methods switched off sees your whole network at once, zoomed to fit.
Some visitors would rather choose the moment themselves. A GPS button beside the search bar lets them tap when they're ready and jump straight to what's closest.
What can visitors search by?
Visitors type where they are or where they're headed, and autocomplete suggests places as they go. Those suggestions can include addresses, postcodes, neighborhoods, cities, regions, and countries, in whichever combination suits your business. Postal formats from every country autocomplete correctly, so a UK postcode, a Canadian postal code, and a US ZIP all behave the same way.
Picking a suggestion centers the map on that place and sorts your locations by distance from it.
Visitors who already know the name of the location they want can find it directly, once you add your location names to the autocomplete. They select it from the suggestions and land on that pin.
How do visitors narrow down results?
Search answers "what's near me." Filters answer "which of these is right for me."
Each group of tags you create becomes a dropdown in the locator, so visitors can narrow by product, service, brand, location type, amenity, or any category that matters to them. Groups of two to five options can appear as visible checkboxes instead, putting the choice in front of visitors without a click.
The tags themselves also show on each location card as small colored chips, with an icon if you add one. Visitors scan the list and see what each location carries without opening anything.
When a visitor selects several tags, you decide what counts as a match: every tag, any tag, or any-within-a-filter and all-across-filters. That last option handles most multi-filter setups, where someone picking Coffee and Tea from one dropdown and WiFi from another expects locations with either drink and definitely WiFi.
A second, optional search input narrows the list visitors already have by name or text. Someone searches a postcode to find what's nearby, then types a few letters to pick out the one location they're looking for.
Why do results appear in this order?
Closest first, by default. Distance is what most visitors mean by "best," so it needs no setup.
When certain locations deserve the top spot, priority sorting lifts everything carrying a chosen tag above the rest: flagship stores, premium partners, certified dealers. Each rule carries its own distance limit, which keeps the boost honest. A premium partner promoted within 25 miles won't outrank the genuinely nearest location for someone searching from 100 miles away.
Stack several rules to build a hierarchy, and they apply in the order you arrange them.
For ordering that responds to more than tags, Spotlight reacts to where a visitor searched, which filters they picked, and what time of year it is. It also handles exclusive territories and promotional cards alongside results, which suits dealer networks and franchise areas with defined regions.
Can visitors browse the map instead of searching?
Plenty of visitors explore before they commit to a search box. Connect the list to the map and it responds as they pan and zoom.
In one mode, locations currently on screen rise to the top of the list, and everything else stays reachable below. In the other, the list shows only what's visible, which turns the map itself into the way visitors browse. The second feels like the "search as you move" behavior visitors already know from Google Maps and Airbnb.
What happens when nothing is nearby?
Some searches come from places you don't cover yet. A radius dropdown lets visitors widen the area themselves and find the nearest option, however far it sits. You choose which distances it offers.
You can also give them somewhere to go regardless of distance. Online stores, delivery services, your own ecommerce site, and virtual consultations appear as a second tab beside nearby results, and directly beneath the message when a search comes back empty. Every visitor leaves with a way to buy or book.
How the pieces work together
The order matters, because each stage hands its results to the next.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Page loads | IP detection centers the map, then GPS refines it if the visitor allows. Neither one is needed for anything below to work. |
| Visitor searches | The searched place replaces the detected one, and the radius decides how wide a net to cast. Everything inside it becomes the result set. |
| Filters apply | Selected tags narrow that set. Filters work on what the radius returned, so a wider radius gives filters more to work with. |
| Results sort | Distance orders the list, and priority rules lift tagged locations within their own distance limits. |
| List presents | Focus on nearest zooms to the closest few, result limits cap the count, and map movement reorders or trims the list to match the view. |
Two details follow from this that are worth knowing before you start tuning:
A generous radius makes filters and map browsing better. Both work only with locations the search already returned. This is why a large default radius pairs naturally with map-driven browsing, and why a tight radius can make a filter look broken when it's working exactly as configured.
Distance stays underneath everything. Filters and priority rules change which locations appear and which rise to the top, and within any group, closest still comes first.
Which setup fits your directory
The same pieces assemble differently depending on what visitors need from you.
| Directory type | What visitors lean on |
|---|---|
| Retail store locators | Geolocation and distance sorting. Most visitors want the nearest store and little else. |
| Dealer and stockist networks | Product filters to confirm who carries what, plus priority sorting for certified partners. |
| Service providers | Specialty filters and territory rules, since coverage areas matter more than a street address. |
| Franchise directories | Catchment areas and priority rules that feature flagship locations. |
| Provider finders | Filters for services offered, and location name suggestions for visitors searching a specific practitioner. |
Start your free trial See examples
7-day free trial. Plans from $25/month after. Brand styling included on every plan.
Related
- Quick Start: Get a working locator on your site.
- Auto-Detect Location: IP and GPS detection settings.
- Search: Suggestion types, radius, distance units, and pre-filled searches.
- Filters & Tags: Build the filters visitors use to narrow results.
- Priority Sorting: Boost specific locations to the top.
- Spotlight: Territories, promotional content, and conditional results.
- Update List as Map Moves: Pan-and-zoom browsing.
- Online Stores: Give visitors an option when nothing is nearby.
- Widget Settings: Every setting in one reference.